Ripple Hack: Binance Freezes Stolen XRP
The CEO of Binance, Richard Teng, announced on social media that the exchange quickly took action to freeze the address of the Ripple exploiter after a significant hack targeted the personal wallet of Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen. Teng expressed gratitude towards the Ripple team and blockchain analyst ZachXBT for their collaboration and support in addressing the theft.
After finding out early on about the exploit that occurred at Ripple, we’re happy to say that the Binance team has managed to freeze $4.2 Million worth of XRP stolen by the exploiter. We appreciate both the communities efforts in flagging it to exchanges – as always @zachxbt…
— Richard Teng (@_RichardTeng) February 1, 2024
Larsen’s Personal Accounts Breached
Contrary to speculation, Chris Larsen clarified that his personal accounts were breached, not Ripple’s network or the XRP token itself. The stolen funds were being laundered through multiple exchanges, including MEXC, Gate, Binance, Kraken, OKX, HTX, and HitBTC. The confusion arose due to misattribution of the affected account as Ripple in XRP block explorers XRPScan and Bithomp.
Binance’s Involvement in Asset Freezing
Larsen has been working with cryptocurrency exchanges to freeze the exploiter’s address and has involved law enforcement in the investigation. Binance successfully froze a portion of the stolen assets, but it remains undisclosed if other exchanges like OKX and Kraken are also taking action. Binance has a history of intervening in cyber thefts within the crypto sector, such as aiding Norwegian authorities in recovering stolen funds from the Ronin network heist.
Binance’s Collaborative Efforts
Binance has collaborated with other exchanges, like Huobi, to facilitate the recovery of stolen funds. They played a crucial role in reclaiming assets for Axie Infinity after the Ronin Network hack. The recent freezing of assets linked to the Ripple hack is part of Binance’s ongoing efforts to mitigate cyber thefts in the cryptocurrency industry.
Hot Take: Binance Takes Swift Action to Freeze Stolen XRP
Binance CEO Richard Teng announced on social media that the exchange quickly froze the address used by a hacker who targeted Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen’s personal wallet. Teng expressed gratitude towards Ripple and blockchain analyst ZachXBT for their collaboration. The stolen funds were being laundered through various exchanges, causing confusion about the nature and target of the hack. Larsen has been working with exchanges to freeze the exploiter’s address and has involved law enforcement. While Binance successfully froze some assets, it remains unknown if other exchanges have taken similar action. Binance has a track record of intervening in cyber thefts within the crypto sector and collaborating with other platforms to recover stolen funds.
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